STORE

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

THERE'S SOMTHING ABOUT SAMBO (Самбо).

It's pretty obvious we here at DSTRYR/sg are in to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. We train all the time - often so much that BJJ seems to be the only thing that matters. It's an addiction really, and we're told therapy could help. We're steering clear of that.

Despite our love and lifelong dedication to BJJ, we're oddly fascinated by Sambo (aka Самбо or Sombo). And, we're not sure exactly why that is. Maybe it's because the throws and submissions seem so different. Maybe it's that whole funky-shouldered gi-top/short-shorts combination (it would be weird if that was the reason). Maybe it's the sheer foreignness of it all. Whatever it is, we think Sambo is pretty damn cool. Know what we mean, grappler?

Perhaps there's a Russian Sambo expert somewhere out there writing a post for an upstart Sambo website about how fascinated he is with jiu jitz ... nah.

Check out Yasuhiro Tanaka (former Japanese national Sambo champ and world championship medalist) demonstrating the classic Victor throw to armbar finish:

Here's another one for good measure:

These techniques are flawlessly demo'd and are very non-BJJ. It's awesome. Try one out on an unsuspecting teammate tonight.